Consumer Demand for Lamb Protein Keeps Rising

Consumer demand for lamb increased considerably during 2020. While all meat sales grew during the year as more meals were eaten at home, lamb sales grew at a larger percentage than total meat sales overall. That’s according to the U.S. Retail Sales report commissioned by the American Lamb Board.

First-quarter sales in 2020 increased by almost 25% from 2019 to 2020, and the pounds of lamb meat sold increased by 17.7% during that same time. Sales of rack of lamb exploded in the third and fourth quarters of 2020. Compared to the previous year, rack sales increased almost 53% in terms of pounds sold. Sales of ground lamb also saw significant growth, increasing by 23.7%.

California has seen the most growth since 2019, thanks to a 30% increase in dollar sales and a 29.6% increase in pounds sold. The Northeast U.S. remains the highest-selling region by a significant margin, accounting for 29% of all lamb sales in the U.S. Lamb retail sales remained strong into the first quarter of 2021. Compared to the first quarter of 2020, dollar sales grew by almost 20%, and volume sales climbed almost 12 percent higher.

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